The Demon (Cyclopedia of Literary Characters)
At a glance:
- Author: Mikhail Lermontov
- First Published: 1841
- Type of Work: Poetry
- Type of Plot: Mythic
- Time of Work: Indeterminate
- Setting: Unidentified
- Genres: Poetry, Narrative poetry
- Subjects: Suffering, Love or romance, Alienation, Poetry or poets, Good and evil, Loneliness, Devils or demons, Romanticism, Russia or Russian people, Mountains, Nuns
- Locales: Caucasus
Characters Discussed
The Demon, an unnamed demoniac power whose identity is a matter of some controversy, as Russian has no articles (hence, he may be either “the” or “a” demon, though commentators tend to agree that he is a specific demon). Like Lucifer or Satan, he has been expelled from heaven. His role apparently is to lead humans into evil and death, but unlike John Milton’s Satan, he longs for the lost paradise and has the capacity to fall in love with a mortal (Satan perceives Eve’s beauty and is filled with envy, but he has no romantic interest in her)....
[The entire page is 947 words long]
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